Neal Schon Says Journey Have ‘Defied Death’ by Perseverance

Journey guitarist Neal Schon said the band has “defied death” a number of times during its career because of perseverance. His comments came after a public dispute with keyboardist Jonathan Cain last year, which, at one point, appeared to put the group's future in doubt.

“Good music is great music, and I think it’s timeless,” Schon told KSHE 95 as he considered Journey’s return to playing large-scale venues after some time in the wilderness. “Things come around, they go around. It’s sort of like, every 10 years, it feels to me like it takes a full circle. The timing just seems right again. We’ve been out there for two decades kicking it pretty hard and keeping our fans happy.”

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“I never gave up hope," Schon said. "We kind of defied death a few times, and it’s perseverance. You push forward and try not to pay attention to the negative aspects that people like to throw around. People like to create controversy. They like to create drama – ‘How are you going to do it without this? How are going to without that?’ I prefer just not to listen to any of that, and stay within my convictions of where I want to go and what I want to accomplish. If you do that, you always succeed eventually.”

Journey recently announced a U.S. tour with Def Leppard. Asked about what fans might expect, Schon explained that he doesn't see it as "any kind of giant production with flames and, like, really outside stuff. Give us a nice, large, flat stage with a huge PA, lots of great lighting, and a long, long catwalk.” He added that it would be “very cool” if the bands managed to jam together during shows, although he didn’t believe it would “happen in every city."